World Rugby, All Blacks train with wet balls to get used to the humidity

The sultry heat that is hitting France has caught the 20 teams in the Rugby World Cup off guard. Wrong passes, uncertain catches, frequent forwards: it is impossible not to notice the quantity of trivial errors committed even by the most highly rated national teams. The fault, according to many, is humidity, which is making it increasingly difficult to handle the oval with peace of mind. So much so that New Zealand, in view of the match against Namibia, decided to adopt an original solution: training with wet balls.

THE WORDS

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“We noticed that the ball is quite greasy and the shirts quite wet,” explains Jason Ryan, All Blacks forwards coach. He therefore prepared the countermeasure: “There were many balls lost in progress by different teams. Adapting to these conditions in training with wet balls is important.” This detail is unlikely to make the difference against Namibia, but who knows, the practice may become widespread to counteract the high temperatures and conditions of the ball. Argentina leads the list of errors, as they let the ball slip 14 times against England: the highest figure since the 2007 World Cup.

THE COMMITMENTS

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The match between New Zealand and Namibia will close the second day of group A, which also includes Italy. The first to take the field will be France and Uruguay, playing this evening at 9pm; on Friday at the same time it will be the All Blacks’ turn. Rest session instead for the Azzurri, who will return to the field on Wednesday 20 September against Uruguay.